SAG Executive to Step Down

Screen Actors Guild Chief Communications Officer Seth Oster said Wednesday that he would resign this summer, the latest in an exodus of senior executives from the union.

Oster said he was leaving on his own accord after nearly three years to launch an entertainment consulting company.

"It's been an honor to serve as spokesman and as a member of the senior executive team at SAG over the past several years," Oster said. "However, this is an extraordinary time for me where I have the opportunity to strike out on my own."

Executive turnover at the 120,000-member union has been especially brisk since the election last year of a slate led by actor Alan Rosenberg that orchestrated the firing of Chief Executive Greg Hessinger.

Oster, 37, who was said to be frustrated by the slow pace of a search for a chief executive, said he had "great respect" for Rosenberg's leadership. Rosenberg called Oster's leaving "a huge loss."